Imam Abdullah Antepli2015-03-03T15:34:34-05:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=imam-abdullah-antepliCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Imam Abdullah AntepliGood old fashioned elbow grease.Hats off to Brandeis University!tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2014:/theblog//3.51245162014-04-10T09:15:26-04:002014-06-10T05:59:01-04:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
The namesake of the University is former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, who was a living example of these universal values and moral standards. To my knowledge, Brandeis University takes enormous pride in claiming this exemplary legacy and lives up to those ideals for the most part. Therefore, it is one of the most diverse and welcoming campuses in the U.S. where all minorities thrive, including, and especially, Muslims on its campus. Before many other universities, Brandeis had and still has so many Muslim students, faculty members, administrators and a Muslim Chaplain.

How on earth could this university make such a move to endorse Ali, who is a professional Islamophobe and has a deeply troubling and destructive track record of publicly expressing hateful views of Islam and Muslims? For those who do not know who Ali is, she is one of several ex-Muslims whose souls were deeply scarred by the way they experienced Islam and various local cultural practices in their own life. She and others like her later found themselves spokespeople and poster children of those who have passionately promoted the "Clash of Civilizations" theory between Islam and the West since early 1990s.

All these Ayan Hirsi Ali's needed to do was generalize their tragic and heart-wrenching personal experiences to the entire world of Islam and Muslims to verify and validate the demonic and monstrous images of this faith and its followers that these "Clash" dreamers have been championing. You can find out more about Ali, but here are a few 'pearls of wisdom' that she repeats about her former religion and former co-religionists:

" ...Islam is a destructive, nihilistic cult of death."

"...We need to defeat Islam. Once it's defeated, it can mutate into something peaceful. It's very difficult to even talk about peace now. They're (Muslims) not interested in peace. I think that we are at war with Islam. And there's no middle ground in wars."

"Islam was like a mental cage. At first, when you open the door, the caged bird stays inside: it is frightened. It has internalized its imprisonment. It takes time for [the] bird to escape, even after someone has opened the doors to its cage."

Having said all of this, I firmly and unequivocally support Ali and her supporters' freedom to say whatever they want to say. I despise censorship and believe in the sanctity of freedom of speech. I also find Muslim hypersensitivity over criticism of Islam to be foolish and immature. The problem is, simply put, why a university with outstanding moral values would put a kosher seal of endorsement on hate, de-legitimization, dehumanization and exclusion and contradict herself with its core values?

Thank God and to all those who were involved. The story took admirable turns after it became public. Brandeis' community and friends of Brandeis turned this potentially disastrous and destructive scandal into an admirable and exemplary teaching moment for all. Numerous Brandeis faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors and community members fiercely protested the University's decision and demanded for it to be rescinded. So many others from all around the country joined in support of the protest and signed petitions.

Brandeis' decision-makers admirably moved quickly to correct this mistake and withdrew their decision to award the honorary degree to Ali. In its official statement, the University explained the reason of cancellation in following words: "...We cannot overlook certain of her past statements that are inconsistent with Brandeis University's core values."

This mid-course correction is admirable, worthy of applause and exemplary for all, but especially, Muslims all around the world. This decision sets a moral standard for all of us in how not to turn each other's renegades into heroes in our communities. This decision invites Jews and Muslims, and others, to reconsider their sources of information about each other, as well as the list of names and experts that they invite to their communities to learn more about each other. Brandeis' moral act on this issue invites those Muslims who invest heavily in the Jewish versions of Ayan Hirsi Ali to stop promoting these ex-Jews or anti-Semitism-vomiting Jews as the most favored Jews in certain Muslim communities. This correction provides a huge moral ground for Muslims like me to shame those Muslims who happily drink from the Jewish anti-Semitism fountains and despicably have no moral difficulty in providing support to them. I now, for sure, will raise my voice as loud as possible to call on them.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Brandeis University, President Frederick Lawrence and all others who are behind this exemplary moral act. Thank you for not damaging already fragile, Jewish-Muslim relations any further. Thank you for not pulling the rug from under the feet of people who are admirably trying to repair the relationship and bridge the gap between these divided communities. As my Jewish brothers and sisters say, "Yashar Koach!" Well done, hats off to all of you and thank you.

This column (http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2014/04/10/hats-brandeis-university) was originally published in the Duke Chronicle. It has been reprinted with permission.

Follow Imam Abdullah Antepli on Twitter: www.twitter.com/aantepli]]>The Future of Jewish-Muslim Relations on College Campuses: Hope or Hopeless?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2014:/theblog//3.49495402014-03-13T16:20:46-04:002014-05-13T05:59:01-04:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
I'm one of only 11 full-time Muslim chaplains on a U.S. university campus, serving at Duke University. It's the only place I know where it's kosher and halal to pray for "the Devils." If one looks for an overarching identity where political, sectarian and religious differences disappear, look toward college basketball. Israeli-Palestinian conflicts are a piece of cake. But the Duke-UNC rivalry, there is no hope.

Unfortunately, the future of Judaism and Islam on American college campuses is not a sports rivalry where it's trophies that are at stake. I see urgency around Jewish-Muslim relations in general, and in particular on college campuses in the United States.

I have great admiration for leaders like Pope John Paul II and John XXIII -- these men moved mountains in repairing Christian-Jewish relations. Christian anti-Semitism took its theological strength from core teachings of Christianity. Unlike Christian anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism in the Muslim world isn't rooted in Islamic theology and was never fed through core Islamic teachings.

But as anti-Semitism grows in the Muslim world, fueled by political problems in the Middle East, Muslim anti-Semitism is taking root as people turn to Muslim theology to try to find scripture and history that provides religious legitimacy for despicable hate messages.

I know, because I am one of the victims of that anti-Semitism. I'm often asked, "Why are you so obsessed with Jews? Why are you so tirelessly trying to improve Jewish-Muslim relations?" Growing up in Turkey, the first book that I read about Jews and Judaism was at the age of 12 or 13 -- a children's version of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It was very sophisticated propaganda that put modern pictures of Israeli-Palestinian conflict and atrocities atop verses from the Torah and other Jewish teachings, in an attempt to prove the inherent evil of Judaism. Not every single Muslim is born and raised as an anti-Semite. But it's not uncommon.

I spent a number of years believing that something is innately, irredeemably wrong about Jews and Judaism. But believing in a God of love and God of mercy and compassion, I was able to go through a life journey that removed that poison from my system. I still consider myself a recovering anti-Semite because old habits die hard and modern challenges keep scratching the old wounds.

Rising bigotry is not unique nor is it one-way. Islamophobia among the Jewish community is increasing, too, poisoning many Jewish hearts and minds and taking deep root here in the U.S. as well as other parts of the world.

As Muslims and Jews, we have every reason to be worried about the future of our religions. Vis-à-vis Jewish-Muslim relations, we have every reason to do all that we can to build bridges between our communities. As Jews and Muslims it is in our self-interest.

I see the 20th century as the time when world Jewry came to terms and reconciled with Christianity. I see the 21st century as the time Jews and Judaism can come to terms and reconcile with the global Muslim community.

That brings a moral imperative to America's shores. Yes, anti-Semitism may be poisoning Muslims around the world and it's changing us for the worse. But it is American Muslims and American Jews who must model what the 21st century will look like. We live in a country with influence and civil liberties; on college campuses in particular, Jews and Muslims have the room to exemplify a fruitful Jewish-Muslim engagement for the rest of the U.S., world Jewry, and the Ummah, the Muslim world.

An important place to start is to diversify our sources of information about each other. I invite you to consider, when does Islam as a religion and Muslims as people come to your attention? Or when do Jews, Judaism and Israel come to Muslim attention?

When it comes to information on college campuses, we have to stop inviting fringe speakers who only serve to firm up extremist images of the other. There also needs to be bilateral Jewish-Muslim conversation. Interreligious sharing is wonderful, but Jews and Muslims share similarities, a common history, as well as similar theological and judicial foundations. Bi-lateral discussions, especially on U.S. college campuses, are a must if we are to be an urgently needed light for the world.

A Voice from Sinai is calling on American Jews and American Muslims, "If there's going to be any reconciliation, any coming to terms, it will be you. You will exemplify this to the rest of the world."]]>Loss of Dreams: The Turkish Model Falling Aparttag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2014:/theblog//3.48650762014-02-27T17:42:33-05:002014-04-29T05:59:01-04:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
As you dream, in worst-case examples, life often sadistically lures you in with certain set of realities and makes you believe that it is no longer a dream, but a good news package to arrive soon at your door. Everything you see and hear around you convinces you that you are getting a few steps closer to enjoying the fulfillment of your dreams, and things may be happening much more beautifully than you ever imagined.

These dreams are like a fake package delivery that you made and desperately wait for. You are given a tracking number, every day tracking this package, following its journey from one station to other, feeling increasingly excited as the package gets closer to its final destination.

You build hopes and expectations and make plans about what you will do once those dreams become reality when your package arrives. You share your plans about this upcoming good news with your loved ones and friends. You invite them to share your excitement about what will happen then. You are so focused on these dreams, so desiring of their realization, so much in need of this fulfillment that you either don't see the warning signs or ignore them along the way. You selectively read the developments in the way that you want to interpret them.

This is until one day when you wake up and see those dreams fading away on your horizon. Everything and everyone that feeds your hope becomes nothing but a sophisticated hoax, a journey of deception, a cheat and a serious set of lies. There is no package arriving, or if there is, it is at best empty and at worst full of bad news.

The grief and mourning that is triggered by losing something that never really existed, but couldn't be more real in your own mind, can hurt you more than losing something real. It sometimes cuts deeper than losing a loved one, losing money or property. You are filled with anger and frustration and don't know who to blame -- the ones who made you believe those dreams were true or bound to happen, or yourself for being so naïve to believe a too-good-to-be-true story.

For many Turks and friends of Turkey all around the world, this intense grief is real these days. The dream of Turkey becoming the first modern, homegrown, indigenous Muslim democracy has been lost. The dream of being a beacon of light to the rest of the Muslim world and beyond is gone and just the opposite is increasingly becoming an undeniable reality. The recent political turmoil, corruption scandals, anti-democratic and autocratic moves of the government and one of the ugliest character assassination campaigns in the Turkish media are turning the dreams of these people into terrifying nightmares.

In last 10 years or so, the more closely you followed Turkey's breathtaking episodic achievements -- its economy, political stability, democracy, foreign policy, expansion of its civic space, progression with civil liberties, taming of the military and pushing them behind the barracks, removing the remaining elements of militarist dictatorship from the political system -- the more air you pumped into those dream balloons.

Turkey was on its way to be the first Muslim majority nation, recovering from the trauma of a violently imposed Western, secular democracy for decades, freeing itself from the shackles of self-pity and victimhood. Turkey was done blaming others for its failures, breaking the shells of being an insular, closed society and was beginning to build confidence in creating a bottom-to-top secular democracy.

For almost a decade, everything you saw made you believe that a broad spectrum of political and non-political actors formed an inspiring coalition, working tirelessly to achieve these lofty but urgently needed goals in order to put Turkey on the map as a model Muslim-majority nation.

I was one of the many Turks who raised my expectations of the country quite high. Despite being hit by intense grief over my lost dreams, feeling backstabbed and shamefully deceived by so many different power centers in my birth country, despite being troubled by intense shame and embarrassment over the many people I respected and admired enormously for so long, I still have not lost hope for Turkey entirely.

At least not yet. Not because I am an incurable, utopian optimist and Turkish-American male version of Pollyanna. But because Turkish society collectively has yet to speak on the matter and decisively determine the direction of the country in light of these recent discouraging developments. Turkish delights will do so in two upcoming elections this year.

Although losing your dreams hurts, very few things give you as much joy, excitement and intense gratitude as those lost dreams when the outcome become nothing but a blessing. Even though it is painful as you go through this lost, often it ultimately turns into or produces many unexpected blessings. As the Holy Qur'an reminds us in many of her beautiful verses, life can delightfully surprise you by bringing many unexpected good things out of hardship and difficulty.

Let's hope and pray that what has been going on in Turkey will ultimately be a helpful learning curve to this great nation and will empower its noble people to be in charge of their country's direction. Let's hope Turkey turns these recent calamities into blessings by emerging as a stronger secular Muslim democracy.]]>Is Black Mosque Not Black Enough?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2014:/theblog//3.47812232014-02-18T11:39:58-05:002014-04-20T05:59:01-04:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
This month can potentially help us collectively hold honest and difficult conversations about our past as a nation, and it could potentially help us relearn the lessons of the past as we move forward. It can help -- but only if these Black History Month celebrations and observances are done in a meaningful way, free from empty ceremonies and cheap lip services to the deeply painful history of black people in this part of the world.

A broad general assessment of the Black History Month celebrations that occur every February is beyond the scope of this column. I leave it to the moral imagination of every American to decide whether the conversations that these month-long remembrances spark are rewarding ones, or if they are adding insult to injury.

I would, however, like to briefly discuss what is to me one of the most puzzling and disturbing aspects of this Black History Month tradition -- the not-so-subtle exclusion of the experiences of black Muslims from the overall history of black people in this country.

Every February comes with numerous events and activities that highlight the different aspects of black history, taking place through various academic and nonacademic platforms with little to no mention of Islam and Muslims as part of that history. The few events that have been organized to highlight the story of black Muslims in America are often, if not always, organized by Muslims themselves, not by centers or departments, the civic and governmental organizations who usually organize all Black History Month events. If you think I exaggerate, please do a simple Google search and check out the last couple of years' Black History Month events on college campuses, in public school systems, events in Washington, D.C., or state capitals and so on. The absence of the "Black Mosque's voice" in those conversations is hard to go unnoticed, and to me is unacceptable.

It seems as if Islam was never really part of black history from day one. As if millions of black Americans today are not Muslims. As if black Muslims in America have not produced very many giants of "black religion" and voices of "black struggle" against slavery and white supremacy. It seems as if "black mosques" have not been a resource of comfort, healing and empowerment to very many daughters and sons of Africa and beyond in this country.

Islam and Muslims are far from being absent from black history. Both the religion and its African followers were an integral part of forced African emigration to the West. No one knows the exact number, but a significant portion of slaves brought to the Americas from West and Central Africa from the beginning to the end of slavery were Muslims. Even though many of them were literate and observant Muslims at different levels, Islam within African slaves did not survive and completely disappeared over time. In the Deep South, where most black Muslims were sold, their brutal enslavement, their shameful forced conversion to Christianity and other heart-wrenching obstacles to practicing their faith made it impossible for them to create and sustain any real Muslim community.

Even though the Islamic and African Muslim heritage of these slaves was completely wiped out within a few generations, the story of Islam among black Americans does not end there. Late 19th and early 20th century Islam once again resurrected itself among black Americans as they recovered from post-slavery trauma.

In their attempts to reconnect with their African roots, millions of black Americans found Islam. This resurrected Islam empowered many to claim their human dignity, pumping hope and inspiration into the hearts and minds of millions of black Americans and serving as a therapeutic healing power to their scarred souls.

Iconic figures of this black American Islam include Elijah Mohamed, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, W.D. Mohammed and many others, all of whom played and continue to play pivotal roles in various human rights struggles for black Americans of the past and present.

The point is this: "Black Mosque" is as black as it gets. It is as authentic, as African and as American as "Black Church" was, and is. The Muslim black American experience is an authentic and truly homegrown reality and an essential part of black history in this country. Therefore, a "Black Mosque" must not be considered a "Muslim thing," independently existing from an overall black American reality in this country.

Therefore, the "Black Mosque" voice and story must be part of the overall narration of black history in this country. This month-long attempt to remember and honor black history cannot be complete and authentic if it continues to selectively highlight certain stories within "black history" and continues to exclude and disregard others.

In hopes of better Februaries together, God willing...

This column was originally published in the Duke Chronicle. It has been reprinted with permission.]]>Mercy to All Worlds: Muhammadtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2014:/theblog//3.46091142014-01-21T09:52:06-05:002014-03-23T05:59:01-04:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/

As you read these lines, more than 1.5 billion Muslims will be celebrating the birthday of their beloved prophet -- or as we know it, Milad an-Nabi or Mawlid -- all around the globe. Muslim love and admiration to Prophet Muhammad manifests itself beautifully through these various kinds of religious celebrations blended by local cultures and traditions in these birthday celebrations.

This very special occasion where we remember and honor the life, teachings and legacy of the prophet of Islam is in some ways the Muslim version of Christmas, which supposedly, or at least historically, is centered around Christ's birthday. I say supposedly because Christmas, although it is still all about Christ's birth and legacy for so many practicing Christians, has become a Christ-free cultural phenomenon for many Western societies, including the U.S.

None doubt Muhammad's unique place and role for Muslims as the seal of the prophetic line. The only and final prophet who came after Jesus, who is also considered a noble prophet by Muslims, makes the prophet of Islam one of the most important differentiating characteristics between Islam and the two previous Abrahamic siblings, namely Judaism and Christianity, in the context of prophetic tradition. There is no Islam without Muhammad, and believing in his final Messenger hood is actually what makes someone Muslim. Muhammad's sayings (Hadith) and his example (Sunnah) constitute the second most important foundational and canonical texts of Islam after the Quran. Quran describes Muhammad as "mercy to all worlds," and Muhammad symbolizes that mercy for Muslims. His legacy continues to shape and inform the daily life of more than a billion people from all possible backgrounds.

Then, who is Muhammad for non-Muslims? Or who can he potentially be for a faithful Christian, Jew or anyone else who would like to embrace Islam as a divinely inspired religion? For someone who can learn from Islam and Muslims without the need for conversion, or more importantly, without compromising their own religious identity? It may be easy to give answers from the heart to this question, but it is not that easy to come up with quick, theological answers.

Let me start with how not to honor Muhammad as a non-Muslim. I believe Muslims' recognition of Biblical prophets, in their own Muslim way, including Jesus and Moses as revered apostles of God, cannot be theologically reciprocated by Christians and Jews about Muhammad. In my opinion, some recent Christian and Jewish efforts in discussing the possibility of accepting Muhammad as a prophet, like other biblical prophets who happen to historically come after Moses or Jesus theologically fall short and shallow. These no doubt well-intentioned modern scholars provide very little explanation in terms of how to reconcile such a revolutionary idea with the overall big picture of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as their suggestion automatically undermines many of the foundational theological claims of both of these religions.

In order to get along, in our sincere attempts to build bridges between our faith communities, I don't think we need to blur our differences or undermine them. We do not need to indigenize or kosher-ize the dividing factors -- Muhammad in this case -- by stretching our theologies or even compromising core elements of our own faith traditions. For example, I find certain Muslim attempts to "Islamosize" the Christian doctrine of trinity through the 99 names of Allah similarly counterproductive and potentially harmful to both Christianity and Islam.

Despite this theological reservation and warning, I still believe very strongly that humanity at large still has a lot to learn from Muhammad and his teachings. There are very few people who have been as successful in transforming his or her community both in secular and religious terms and impact history the way Muhammad was able to do. I think famous European historian Lamartine summarizes this point beautifully saying: "If greatness of purpose, smallness of means and outstanding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad."

It was again Muhammad's amazing accomplishments that allow him to remain number one in Michael Heart's list of the most influential persons in history. What fascinated these two non-Muslims, and many others, was Muhammad's ability to bring change in such a short period of time, through very simple and inexpensive means and in such a sustainable way. For example, compare Muhammad's ability to prevent the consumption of alcohol in his community with Soviet and U.S. attempts to ban alcohol in the mid-20th century. Compare the time, methods, deterrents and investments that Muhammad utilized with the ones that these giant superpowers did. One cannot help but join Lamartine and Michael Heart in awe and admiration of Muhammad.

On his birthday, I invite all my non-Muslim friends, without the need to accept him as a prophet, to pay attention to the many teachings and legacies of the Prophet of Islam. The fact that he is a uniquely and exclusively "Made in Islam" product should not stop anyone from learning from him as a teacher and welcoming his legacy into your life as a potential inspiration.

Happy Birthday, Muhammad. Greetings and blessings to you and all prophets who came before you, and many happy and blessed returns to all humanity.

P.S. For those looking for a good summary of Muhammad's life, the PBS documentary Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet is an outstanding one.

Abdullah Antepli is the Muslim chaplain and an adjunct faculty of Islamic Studies. His column runs every other Thursday. Send Abdullah a message on Twitter @aantepli.

This column was originally published in the Duke Chronicle. It has been reprinted with permission.]]>Torture and Ustag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.41808132013-10-31T18:26:51-04:002013-12-31T05:12:01-05:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
I believe there is a moral imperative to oppose torture unequivocally, to work hard to prevent it from happening and to work even harder to heal the wounds of torture. It is crucial we try to repair this evil force's many different kinds of destructions, heal its scars and wounds and help the victims of torture to reclaim their humanity. This essential human moral imperative becomes an inescapable obligation if torture is committed by your fellow citizens and in your country's name. Therefore, I am involved in various local, national and international anti-torture initiatives. One of the most notable American organizations doing admirable work in this area is The National Religious Campaign Against Torture. I highly encourage and even beg everyone to check out NRCAT and similar organizations and support them as much as you can.

Last August, I proudly joined nearly 200 other N.C. clergy and religious leaders in sending a joint letter led by the North Carolina Council of Churches to Sen. Richard Burr, who is one of 15 members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. This was done in the spirit of responding to this moral call to claim responsibility for torture committed by fellow Americans and allegedly sponsored by our government. We requested Sen. Burr's support to make the findings of an investigation report, which was based on a review of six million pages of CIA documents and other records into the post-9/11 treatment of terrorism suspects, public. In this letter, we plead to him saying:

We are writing to you as fellow people of faith to support the release of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on U.S. treatment of detainees in the post-9/11 period... Our relations with the Muslim world have deteriorated, and the major reason is that our credibility on human rights is under question...The U.S. does not condone torture, but torture has been done by our citizens and in our country's name. Our national security would be improved by restoring the world's respect for U.S. integrity on human rights and adherence to the rule of law... As important as that report is, though, it cannot replace the U.S. government's obligation to be transparent about its past. Our nation needs to learn from the 6,000-page SSCI report. Understanding our past will help us recommit ourselves to respecting human life in the future...

The SSCI voted 9-6 to approve the findings of its investigation, and Sen. Burr was among the six who voted against it. He also opposes making the findings of the investigation public. Just last week, he responded to our joint letter and provided explanation of his position:

"I was deeply concerned about the factual inaccuracies contained within the report, including inaccurate information relating to the details of the interrogation program and other information provided by detainees," Burr wrote. "I believe the American public should be provided with reports that are based on accurate facts."

I cannot tell you how disappointed I am by Sen. Burr's response and by his overall position on this issue. His carefully crafted letter adds a tremendous amount of insult to injury, as it does not reflect any claim or acknowledgement of that moral responsibility that 200 N.C. faith leaders reminded him of in our letter. His response shows no empathy whatsoever to the pain and suffering of numerous victims of alleged torture practices and their loved ones. His reaction is representative of a deeply troubling trend in our government and society to downplay the issue of torture, deny its haunting legacy and ignore its moral implications. Sen. Burr and others like him fall troublingly short in providing the kind of ethical, moral leadership that we need as Americans in the face of these state-sponsored torture allegations. We cannot redeem our souls as Americans from the sins of torture unless we know and find out what exactly happened. We cannot be whom we claim to be -- a civilized nation governed by the rule of law and based on universal human values -- unless we repair the despicable damages that we have caused to victims of torture by bringing those who were responsible to justice and providing a sincere apology and compensation. More importantly, we cannot prevent these inhuman practices from being perpetrated again by our fellow Americans in our country's name if we fail to learn the lessons of our recent ethical moral failures. Concealing information from the public and resisting to acknowledge what exactly happened would be a certain path to such failure.

It may be a cliché, but: If you aren't shocked and dismayed, you aren't paying attention. A simple Google search on the issue of torture or a brief visit to NRCAT's website can provide that much needed wake up call. Action is urgently needed on the issue of torture. I pray that many, if not all, will respond to that call. If not, our own humanity will be in question.

This column was originally published in the Duke Chronicle. It has been reprinted with permission.]]>Eid Mubarak!tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.41133442013-10-17T08:58:57-04:002013-12-17T05:12:01-05:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
As a Muslim immigrant who grew up and lived in different Muslim majority societies, it is during these major religious festivals more than any other time that I am reminded of the minority status of my faith here in the U.S. If you live in a Muslim majority society, you don't have to do much in order to see the spark and joy of Eid. You just have to watch as it happens around you. It happens in such a large scale and involves pretty much everyone around you that you just get lost in the joyous atmosphere of Eid. My fellow Americans who have lived in certain parts of the world where Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter come and go seemingly without notice will understand how I feel and what I am trying to say here.

Yes, you try to organize so many events to celebrate Eid within your small communities, you go out of your way to make sure your children will feel at least a fraction of that Eid joy, you try to explain to them that this is our Christmas, but it is still not the same. They still have to go to school the day before and after. Most of their classmates do not take part in this celebration, and their parents have to squeeze Eid into their hectic work schedules. It takes so much out of the whole experience.

More importantly, these special days of observance and the celebrations of cultural, ethnic and religious minorities also often reflect that minority community's integration story to the rest of the society. In other words, these celebrations of minorities provide very helpful examples of that community's overall status with the rest of the society. Are they known, understood, respected, noticed or seen as equal? The way these religious and cultural festivals take place both in format and substance unveils the progress that minority community has made in seeing themselves as part of the larger society.

Despite 9/11 and post-9/11 realities which brought unique and worrying challenges to being a Muslim living in North America, Muslims living in this part of the world as a minority (thankfully) still do not face any major challenges or obstacles to practicing their religion or organizing themselves to observe their religious and cultural practices. Millions of Muslims have celebrated Eid al-Adha all around North America. Thousands of Muslim pilgrims traveled to Holy sites of Islam to perform their once-in-a-lifetime Hajj duty. Eid prayers are organized in almost all cities across the continent.

Watching yet one more Eid al-Adha passing by, though, I can't help but think we Muslims, with the help, understanding and support of our fellow citizens, have a long way to go to make these Eids as American as apple pie. Eid by and large remains something that Muslims do once or twice a year in their little silos. For a minority faith community that has been trying to carve out a respectable space within all civic and cultural milieus of American society, we should increasingly do a better job in indigenizing the markers of our religious identities. Yes, the larger society also has a role to play in these indigenizing efforts, but I think it is primarily our responsibility as Muslims to produce homegrown cultural and religious currencies to engrain ourselves into the social fabric of the society in which we live.

This minority-friendly melting pot continues to work and familiarize herself with the world of Islam and Muslims. As Islam and Muslims increasingly become as American as apple pie, and as the social and cultural tapestry of American society gets richer and more beautiful by incorporating including so many more colors and shapes, I hope and pray we are not too far off from adding Eid Mubarak to the list of popular American slang.

Eid Mubarak everyone !

This column was originally published in the Duke Chronicle. It has been reprinted with permission.]]>Turkish Delight Democracytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.40360972013-10-03T11:03:10-04:002014-01-23T18:58:21-05:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
This column is an invitation to pay attention to one of the very few good and encouraging stories that has made headlines in our part of the world: Turkey's recent attempts to combat terrorism and extremism in partnership with the U.S. as well as the country's recent encouraging attempts to improve democracy and civil liberties. The land of Turkish delights is once again trying to prove to itself and to the rest of the world that it is on its way to producing the first homegrown Muslim democracy. Turkey has a long way to go before declaring victory in becoming the first fully functioning Muslim secular democracy, but these recent developments are very important steps in the right direction.

The first good news was the joint fund created by the Turkish and U.S. governments (and a few other partners like the European Union) in countering extremism. A Sept. 27 article from the New York Timesquoted officials as saying:

The new fund, formally called the Global Fund for Community Engagement and Resilience, will for the first time combine financing from both government and nongovernment entities to identify credible local organizations; develop, monitor and evaluate programs; and channel funds to local projects that target groups and individuals vulnerable to appeals from terrorist groups. It is expected to be operational by mid-2014.

This is indeed very encouraging news on many different fronts. This first-of-its-kind initiative, at least on paper, reflects a much more comprehensive approach in dealing with this global cancer, focusing on prevention rather than treatment. It seems global powerhouses are finally starting to learn necessary lessons in shifting these long over-due efforts in the right direction.

More good news came in the form of the democratic reform package announced to the public last Monday by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The package includes historical changes and praise-worthy democratic reforms; it lifts decades-long shameful restrictions that were curtailing civil liberties, especially for the country's ethnic and religious minorities. For example, Kurdish and other non-Turkish languages, which have been shamefully banned for decades, will now be freely spoken and taught. Women who are civil servants will be able to wear head scarves if they choose to. The properties of religious minorities that were confiscated during the early years of the republic will be returned, and there will be harsher laws for hate crimes, racial profiling and discrimination. The country seemed to be showing signs of regression in its democratic process, particularly with the ruling government's response to the large scale protests throughout the summer. So this news comes as a breath of fresh air.

I really hope and pray that this package reflects the country's mid-course correction and is a bounce-back from its previously slipping efforts to improve its secular democracy. I also hope that not only will these reforms be implemented fully, but that more reforms and changes in this direction will follow, such as drafting a civil and fully democratic constitution, fully normalizing diplomatic and overall relations with Israel, allowing the Greek Orthodox Halki Seminary (which has been unjustly and unfairly closed for decades) to open and fully function, working on an honorable reconciliation on the Armenian issue and more.

I am more hopeful than before about Turkey's candidacy on producing one of the first home-grown Muslim secular democracies. I think the country demonstrates that its direction has not changed despite many ups and downs, setbacks and bumps along the way. As those living in Western democracies know, this road to produce your own democracy is a long, difficult and never-ending work in progress. Let's appreciate these genuine efforts and wish for their full fruition. May our depressed world, with the never-ending bad news of the so-called "Muslim World," see a Turkish Delight Secular-Democracy, and may the process and outcome inspire and encourage many other countries to try to do the same in their own ways. Amen.

This column was originally published in the Duke Chronicle. It has been reprinted with permission.]]>What's So Sexy About Bigots!?tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.39532412013-09-20T16:37:12-04:002013-11-20T05:12:02-05:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
Just recently, we missed yet another great opportunity of such celebration and reflection about who we are as a nation with the selection of Miss America 2014. Nina Davuluri's well-deserved success in becoming the first Miss America of Indian origin is overshadowed. Instead, we see troubling controversy and xenophobia created by the usual suspects in social media and overblown and exaggerated by pretty much everyone else. Minutes after a few bigots and ignorant folks vomited their hate and idiocy through Twitter and Facebook, yet another incredible story of how legal immigration to this beautiful country works and creates wonders turned into a tale about how bad this bunch of haters and marginal groups in our midst is, and how bad we are as a nation.

Defensive and worried Muslim responses, angry liberals, embarrassed Americans and many more unleashing their frustrations over these shameful exclusive voices flooded our news resources. Global media didn't waste time and joined the crowd, covering the "controversy" extensively in a similarly troubling, misleading and counterproductive ways. The entire story was all about these voices of ignorance and bigotry. As if no Americans were happy that another ethnic community found a way to celebrate their inclusion in the social fabric of American society. As if these few marginal voices have the final say about who is and isn't American. Once again, a few insignificant folks who otherwise will never be known to most of us became famous, representative and in some ways authorities in such an undeserved and unhelpful fashion. Humanity's increasing demand for sensational news keeps producing these kinds of counterproductive realities on a daily basis.

American society is in no way unique in this struggle with sensationalism. Over-glorification of crazies and increasing demand for the "what bleeds, it leads" mentality is indisputably a global phenomenon. I am not sure how many of us step back and reflect on the picture that these kinds of "controversies" -- which effectively turn spotlights to a bunch of unhelpful voices in such a disproportionate way -- draw of us as a society? More importantly, how many of us realize how much undeserved legitimacy and unintended recognition we grant to these marginal voices of hate and exclusion over and over by giving so much undeserved attention and coverage to them? I am also not sure how many of us recognize the unintended consequences of extending the mics and cameras to these troubling voices, who in no stretch of the imagination represent us, our values and who we want to be.

One of the most destructive outcomes of this trend is how this overblown coverage of crazies shapes our image of one another. If all you hear, read and see about an entire nation, religion, people and society are the marginal, disturbing elements of them in the spirit of sensationalism, you inevitably develop inaccurate and misleading images and information about the people around you. For example, I don't know how many Americans noticed how this overblown Miss America "controversy" has indirectly and mostly unintentionally aided and legitimized the camp that believes America is at war with Islam and Muslims. They were quick to cover these events, saying: "Not only do they hate all Muslims, but they can't even tolerate the presence of Muslims or anyone who looks or feels like one..." We have to find a way to break the toxic cycle of sensationalism in media. It is ultimately not the fault of these crazies; it is our fault for feeding this unhealthy situation through our consumption of this junk.

In the apparent rush to see who said what in response to Ms. Davuluri's selection as Miss America, it is hard not to see our increasing starvation, fascination and unstoppable desire to sensationalize. We can't stop ourselves from busying with which bigot said what, which hater said something even more inconceivably stupid and who beat the others in radicalism, extremism, shame and embarrassment. Why is that? What is this adrenalin rush, this increasing demand for bad news? What type of masochism is this? What is so unstoppably attractive and sexy about these bigots and haters that we can't seem to have enough of it?! I am more puzzled and frustrated with normal people who continue to pay attention than with these unfortunate marginal voices themselves.

More rhetorical questions in this regard: Why is what these bigots say more newsworthy than what the overwhelming majority of sane, mentally and spiritually healthy people say on any given issue?! How did we become constant consumers of buzzing sensational news?! If aliens from other planets are observing and trying to psychoanalyze humanity in this regard, what possible conclusions might they arrive at? When will humanity at large realize how harmful and destructive this trend is and work hard to recover so that the overwhelming majority of peaceful, moderate, sane people will have their voices heard? I hope soon, because I for one am really tired of this overall immaturity of humanity. Sigh!

This column was originally published in the Duke Chronicle. It has been reprinted with permission.]]>Only in America...tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.38728042013-09-05T17:27:22-04:002013-11-05T05:12:01-05:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
It has been an incredibly rewarding and humbling 10 years for the Anteplis. Only a decade later, that broke graduate student and his family have not only established themselves successfully and put their roots in this beautiful country, but more importantly, we feel more at home here in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world.

Despite troubling post-911 realities that often make life very unpleasant for Muslims living in the U.S. whether they are 3- or 103-years-old, despite the rise of unwelcoming and discomforting voices of exclusion and deeply puzzling Islamophobia, every member of the Antepli family feels American without doubts, hesitations or confusion.

By no means did any of us force ourselves to feel that way. We arrived at this emotional stage even after only living here for 10 years. My wife is considering working as a nurse at a Veterans' Affairs Hospital and serving our veterans; my 12-year-old daughter talks about American history as passionately as if her ancestors were the first tribe to arrive here 10,000 years ago, and my 9-year-old son is now all set -- at least in his mind -- to be a pilot for the U.S. Air Force. My wife and I are truly and delightfully amazed by how this happened in such a natural and organic way and in such a short period of time.

There are incredibly powerful and important stories to be told, both to all fellow Americans and to the rest of the world, as we continue to discuss and struggle with the issue of immigration. Our successful immigration story is far from unique in America. Numerous strangers have come to this country in the past, but this experience itself is incredibly unique, precious and rare, globally speaking.

Both my wife and I have hundreds of relatives who have lived in various parts of Europe for five or six decades. They are now in their third or fourth generations in those countries. For the overwhelming majority of them, they have lived there for their entire lives, and their parents were born there; they are citizens who speak languages of those European societies as well as their mother tongues, and many of them are graduates of the best universities in Germany, France, the U.K. and others. However, rarely has any one of them felt the sense of belonging and pride that we feel to this land. None of them feel fully German, French or British themselves or feel that they are accepted and recognized as such by their fellow countrymen. And there is very little indication that the situation will be any better for the sixth or seventh generations on the horizon.

This column is not a naïve attempt to glorify U.S. society when it comes to immigration and integration. This is a not a cheap attempt at patriotism. American society is far from perfect and has its own defects and shortcomings. This column and many other platforms are not foreign to some of my deep personal frustrations and disappointments about those defects and shortcomings. However, I say in full confidence and pride that the secular democracy and civic society that the U.S.A. has produced so far are still the healthiest on earth and the best available attempt to understand God's pluralistic creation of humanity. This society has come a long way in making this country the land of freedom and opportunity for all. It established the individual and collective reality of being an American as an overarching identity for all races, religions and ideologies. American society still has great potential to inspire and encourage the rest of the world to become better at achieving harmonious multicultural, multi-religious pluralistic societies.

There is no doubt we still have a long way to go in sustaining and improving these fundamental characteristics of our society, but it doesn't hurt to acknowledge our relative success so far. I believe our brighter future as a nation relies heavily on our ability to further improve in becoming a harmonious, diverse society. Progress is our ability to understand and accommodate God's pluralistic creation of humanity. I for one am hopeful, grateful and proud to be an American.

This column was originally published in the Duke Chronicle. It has been reprinted with permission.]]>Gratitude From Duke's Muslim Communitytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.31380112013-04-23T13:43:04-04:002013-06-23T05:12:01-04:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
So much has been said and written about this, and much more will follow as information comes to light about who these two brothers are, what their motivations were and why our law enforcement agencies couldn't stop them before they carried out their treacherous attacks. Just as much has been written and said about how Islam as a religion and Muslims as people can't be blamed for the acts of criminals and how this tragedy should not add fuel to the already existing Islamophobia flames in the country.

Therefore, I will not repeat what many people have already said. Instead, I would like to share with you how humbling, gratifying and reassuring (in addition to painful and discouraging) this past week has been for me and for my community here at Duke.

I know that many Muslims feel let down and discouraged as a result of what has been going on. So many of us are listening in dismay and horror to the voices of hate and exclusion emerging in response to this recent tragedy, which are shamefully calling for tighter racial profiling of Muslims. Many of us spend hours trying to make sense of hate crimes committed against several Muslims and Muslim-looking individuals. I highly caution all of us not to be consumed by the destructive hands of despair and hopelessness. Only then will the evildoers behind these kinds of heinous terrorist attacks be successful. As we mourn and pray for the victims in Boston, as we unleash our understandable anger and frustration in response to the many ugly sides of humanity uncovered during these difficult times, let us not fail to see and take note of the eventual beauty and blessings emerging in the midst of this storm.

All of the members of Duke's Muslim community, myself included, have been receiving an incredible amount of unsolicited support, care and love from friends locally, nationally and internationally. These messages continue to pour in as you read this.

Emails, text messages, Facebook messages and phone calls started coming minutes after the bombs went off in Boston and the news started occupying the headlines. These admirably emphatic souls were sharing our immediate fears and troubling wishes: "I hope there is no Muslim involvement in this ... you and your community are in our thoughts and prayers. Please let us know how we can be of help."

These notes of support intensified as the identity of the suspects behind this tragedy were revealed to the media. In increasing numbers, people were sharing many Muslim Americans' fearful anticipation of backlash and fear mongering. A meme posted on Facebook by a fellow non-Muslim Duke student, "Keep Calm and Resist Islamophobia," had more than one hundred shares in a very short period of time.

The sensationalist media will not cover these kinds of developments. They will continue to cover the most extreme voices and experiences on all sides. Therefore, it is extremely important for us to highlight the encouraging developments emerging in response to this recent, evil terrorist attack. The humbling support and overwhelming love that many fellow Americans have shown is crystal-clear proof that the forces of exclusion, division and hate will be defeated by the forces of inclusion, love and respect once more in our beautiful society.

You only discover your true friends, and how precious and extraordinarily important they are, during these trying and difficult times. For those who have expressed their love, care and support to the American Muslim Community, on behalf of all American Muslims: Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Your friendship and your choice to uphold high ethical and moral values of love and inclusion will not be forgotten. Thanks, from billions.

This column was originally published in the Duke Chronicle. It has been reprinted with permission.]]>Thinking Is an Act of Worshiptag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.30699042013-04-12T11:44:26-04:002013-06-12T05:12:01-04:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
In this week's HuffPost Jummah, I would like to reflect on the very concept of reflecting and thinking (tafakkur) in Islam as an act of worship. Tafakkur is one of the most important and central spiritual tool for us to fulfill our potential and promise as a believer, more importantly as a human being.

Unfortunately, very often we live in an environment or adapted life styles which are becoming increasingly not very thinking friendly. Human beings are externally and internally forced to live a life that requires constant pedaling and running. These modern lifestyles often produce, in large scales, people of action but not people of deep reflections and thinking. We increasingly do more and think less. If you do not see this as an important spiritual crisis, you do not need to read the rest of the khutba.

In addition, we spend way too much time talking about thinking than actually doing it. We often spend so much time discussing about the methods of thinking in fancy intellectual words but how many of us actually spend time in deep thinking and reflections. How many of us see thinking as an important thing to do and put periods of thinking as a commitment into our calendars? How many of us are busy with thinking?

Tafakkur, in the words of our scholars, literally means

to think on a subject deeply, systematically, and in great detail. In The Islamic context, it signifies reflection, which is the human heart's light, the spirit's nourishment, the essence of knowledge, and the heart and light of the Islamic way of life. Reflection is the light in the heart that allows the believer to discern what is good and evil, beneficial and harmful, beautiful and ugly. Again, it is through reflection that the universe becomes a book to read and study, and the verses of the Qur'an disclose their deeper meanings and secrets more clearly. Without reflection, the heart is darkened, the spirit is dysfunctional, and Islam is lived at such a superficial level that it is devoid of meaning and profundity.

Reflection is a vital step in becoming aware of what is going on around us and drawing helpful conclusions from them. It is a golden key to open so many doors to the deeper meanings of experience. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad points out the merits of reflection in following hadith: No act of worship is as meritorious as reflection (tafakkur). So reflect on the God's bounties and the works of His Power."

In another hadith, Prophet Muhammad says, "True reflection an hour is better or more meritorious than one whole year of voluntary physical worship."

In our holy book, the Quran, the concept of reflection repeated several times in different terms but always with significant emphasis. Here is an example: "For sure, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day, there are signs for humans of understanding" (3:190). In other words, dthere are lots to think and reflect upon them.

As the external world, the macro realities worthy of reflection upon and tells us a lot about the maker of this universe and points out to God's signs on them to us, that is also the case in our personal lives, our micro world. In the creation of every single one of you, in the ways in which you live your lives, your family, your relationships, your professional life, there signs of the Most Merciful and most Compassionate. This and several other versus of Holy Quran presents the entire creation as book to read and reflect upon.

One can use religious and spiritual ways of utilizing reflection in every daily activity, study or work. Studying the existence as if it was a book to be reflected upon can yield and generate so many helpful spiritual discoveries and pleasures. Observing the universe through the lenses of tafakkur can help believers to feel and experience the presence of God in their lives.

So let's make this Spring of 2013 as a season of reflection and tafakkur. Let's read the book of creation as it unfolds many of its new beauties and try to see the signs and signatures of its Creator. In the Holy Quran, God Almighty says God is closer to us than our own jugular veins. One can only feel and experience this closeness of God and feel it if they see the creation through the prism of tafakkur.

Happy and blessed Jummuah to all.

]]>Rowan County Defense of Religion Act: Mixing Religion With Politics in North Carolinatag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.30416082013-04-09T12:06:25-04:002013-06-09T05:12:01-04:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
For those who didn't follow very closely, here is the main part of the resolution:

SECTION 1. The North Carolina General Assembly asserts that the Constitution of the United States of America does not prohibit states or their subsidiaries from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.

SECTION 2. The North Carolina General Assembly does not recognize federal court rulings, which prohibit and otherwise regulate the State of North Carolina, its public schools or any political subdivisions of the State from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.

I received these developments with mixed feelings of anger, frustration, joy and hope. First, as an American Muslim leader, very often I am deeply embarrassed by and put in a position to explain the shameful and troubling actions of fellow Muslims elsewhere in the world. It was an ironic break to be put in a similar situation -- not because I am a Muslim, but because I am a proud N.C. resident. Even though I know Islam and Muslims neither own nor produce all the crazies in the world, it was therapeutically comforting to see a similarly troubling action right at home. Seeing the embarrassment and puzzlement of some Christian friends in response to this resolution, you can't help but feel reassured. Misery always likes company.

As the reality started sinking in further, anger and frustration took over my relief. We are in 2013, and have spent 200-plus years striving to improve our secular democracy and strengthen our civic society, which is a beautiful mosaic of many religions, cultures and colors. And 14 well-educated elected officials are trying to establish a state religion: SIGH! The legislators who cooked up this circus do not mention which religion will be the official religion of North Carolina if this resolution becomes a law. If, however, you pay attention to the context of this resolution and pay even closer attention to these legislators' personal and professional records, the brand of religion they are promoting is clear.

These are indeed deeply troubling and potentially dangerous developments, as they are familiar signs of much bigger and more harmful troubles for our entire nation. These politicians are playing with fire by mixing religion and politics in such an unwise, harmful and destructive way. Think about it: Everyone, including these 14 elected officials, knows that this resolution will never fly and will never become law. Even if it becomes a law here in North Carolina, our federal government will shoot it down, as it will be in direct violation of the Constitution. Then why are they doing this? Why are they seemingly making fools of themselves and harming the reputation of their political party, religion, state, country and more? These politicians cannot be that naïve and disconnected from the reality. They are doing this because they were made to believe, by themselves and others, that this is the easiest way to score political points in N.C. based on their reading of current political affairs in our state. These people look at the outcomes of Amendment One and the results of our recent presidential election, and they are playing a very dangerous, shortsighted, cheap and selfish political game by introducing this resolution. So it is not entirely pointless as far as these politicians' present and future personal ambitions in politics are concerned. It may serve very well in the short run for them if we don't do anything about it.

However, these unwise leaders of our state do not realize that this fire they are playing with could spread much more quickly and turn into a much bigger disaster than they think. These developments could further divide our already very divided nation; they could potentially give rise to certain exclusive and harmful forces that are already troublingly louder and more powerful than before.

No one knows this destructive game better than the millions of American Muslims, including myself, who have come from countries where reckless politicians' dangerous experiments in mixing religion and politics have had devastating consequences for the entire nation. These cheap political games tore apart the social fabric of those societies, disturbed social harmony, gave rise to intolerance and enmity, and turned long-standing friends into enemies as they disturbed centuries-long neighborly, brotherly/sisterly and loving relationships.

Unfortunately, most developed and healthy societies react to harmful trends in substantial ways only when things seem to get out of control. My only hopeful expectation out of this madness is that the Defense of Religion Act will shock so many lazy, inactive and silent moderates to finally respond to the loud call for action. I believe these moderates, both locally and nationally, still represent the overwhelming majority of people here in the United States. I wonder: If this tragic resolution doesn't wake them up and motivate them to act against the troubling rise of exclusivism and its various threats to our secular democracy and civic society, what will?

This column was originally published in the Duke Chronicle. It has been reprinted with permission.]]>A Ceasefire and an Apologytag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.29546202013-03-27T12:26:13-04:002013-05-27T05:12:01-04:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
Only one day later--as if this ceasefire wasn't already a sufficient present to all who have been looking forward to the end of the painful, internal bleeding in Turkey--another piece of good news occupied the headlines. President Obama masterfully engineered a phone conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during his final hours in Israel. This phone diplomacy, which has been negotiated for many years by diplomats and others on both sides, effectively ended the frozen and troubling status of the relationship between the two countries and served as a first step to normalizing relations between them. Both leaders vowed to restore the diplomatic and friendly relationship after years of counterproductive hostility.

I am under no delusion that these developments are the final say in this complex situation. The decades-long destruction cannot be repaired overnight with one ceasefire declaration or a formal apology. The challenges and issues related to the Kurds in Turkey are far from being solved, and Turkish-Israeli relations still have a long way to go. However, I personally welcome these events as significantly important and encouraging steps in the right direction.

At this critical moment, the ball is entirely in Turkey's court. Turkish society should step up, putting pressure on the country's political, religious and civic leaders to respond to these developments wisely and not miss the opportunity to achieve peace, prosperity and happiness, both in Turkey and the region.

On the Kurdish issue, Turkey, now that they have no armed separatists to blame as an excuse, must seize the moment and move decisively to restore the honor and dignity of her Kurdish citizens. The country should learn how to bring herself, in all humility and honesty, to acknowledge the suffering that the Kurds have endured since the foundation of the republic. Without acknowledging the history of systemic human rights violations against Kurdish citizens of the country, no real peace should be expected. There is no room for silly chauvinism and useless defensiveness here. And I say this as a Turk who has not a single drop of Kurdish blood in me (at least not that I know of) with very strong conviction. As we want others to publicly acknowledge and apologize for the pain and suffering that they have inflicted on us, we should at least have the decency to do the same, especially to those who are our own rightful citizens. The country as a whole should strive to remove the deeply rooted legal, political, economic and cultural discrimination and inequality against Kurds.

Turkey must act quickly to repair the burned bridges with Israel, work hard to build new economic, cultural and political ties and restore its unique position as a Muslim-majority country that has a friendly relationship with the West, Israelis, Arabs and Palestinians. No good will come for Turkey or Israel in ruining the exceptionally precious Turkish-Israeli relationship. To me, it seems idiotic and self-destructive for either Turkey or Israel to lose the other as an ally. These two countries can potentially do so much good for their citizens, as well as the Middle East.

With its military tamed and domesticated and given the economic growth the country has enjoyed in recent years, Turkey has all she needs to score a spectacular home run now. If Turkey misses this providential opportunity and does not respond back to these calls, the country has no one to blame but itself. The successes and/or failures on these critical issues will be telling indicators to all whether or not Turkey is the prime candidate for producing the first modern, homegrown Muslim democracy. I hope and pray that the country's leadership will learn from previous mistakes and not disappoint us again.

This column ( http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2013/03/26/ceasefire-and-apology ) was originally published in the Duke Chronicle (http://www.dukechronicle.com . It has been reprinted with permission.]]>'Argo' Is Bad, Embarrassing and Wrongtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.27648522013-02-26T10:12:12-05:002013-04-28T05:12:01-04:00Imam Abdullah Anteplihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/imam-abdullah-antepli/
I welcomed the news of "Argo" when I first heard of it, hoping that it would help us face one of the ugliest chapters of our recent U.S. history with Iran. I was misled by the initial publicity of the movie and excited to see how the movie would unveil our government's miserably failed foreign policies prior to the Islamic revolution in 1979. I was eagerly waiting to see how the movie would enable an honest, self-critical assessment of Uncle Sam's -- especially the CIA's -- shameful involvement in the toppling of the democratically elected government in Iran in the early 1950s and the empowering of a reprehensibly corrupt and oppressive regime in the country for over four decades. More importantly, I hoped the movie would show how, in part, these ethical and moral failures helped the conception and the birth of the so-called 1979 Islamic Revolution that ruined Iranian society.

After giving a puzzlingly brief lip service to my expectations at the beginning of the movie, "Argo" moved on to be another embarrassing "Rambo III" movie in many despicable ways: an innocent, white, Western David beating up ugly, exotic, monstrous oriental Goliaths and emerging as victor despite all odds. It caters to its home audience's starvation for self-glory and self-serving, happy endings. More troublingly, the movie does all of that by distorting the obvious facts about one of the most important events in our recent history and dehumanizing a rich civilization irresponsibly. Film critic Kevin B. Lee expressed my heartache best when he recently reviewed "Argo" for Slate:

Looking at the runaway success of this film, it seems as if critics and audiences alike lack the historical knowledge to recognize a self-serving perversion of an unflattering past, or the cultural acumen to see the utterly ersatz nature of the enterprise: a cast of stock characters and situations, and a series of increasingly contrived narrow escapes from third world mobs who, predictably, are never quite smart enough to catch up with the Americans.

"Argo" also disturbingly caters to the biased, post-9/11 image of Islam, Muslims and Middle Easterners and effectively serves to re-assert existing stereotypes. The movie skillfully markets once again the newly found international enemy of Western civilization. The movie describes and pictures the monolithic, black-and-white, pejorative, primitive, archaic, vengeful, unforgiving, irredeemably ignorant and forever dangerous nature of this new and scary enemy.

Since the release of the movie, many of my friends from all over the world, both Middle Eastern and otherwise, expressed their dismay and distaste about "Argo."

Much of what they said can be summarized in the following questions: "Who the heck do these people think they are?" "Who will buy this self-serving, biased and inaccurate propaganda in 2013?" "Do they (the filmmakers) not realize they make fools of themselves? For God's sake give us a break!"

I also wonder how many Americans watched Argo and asked these kinds of questions. My friends' rightful frustrations over "Argo" mirror certain realities of us as a society. It is no longer the 1980s, the Reagan days where movies like "Rambo" can fly. This kind of self-glorifying distortion of history can no longer go unnoticed or unpunished. What will it take to wake up from our self-delusions and express ourselves as we are, not what we wish to be? Again, Slate's Kevin B. Lee puts it perfectly:

We can delight all we like in this cinematic recycling act, but the fact remains that we are no longer living in a world where we can get away with films like this -- not if we want to be in a position to deal with a world that is rising to meet us. The movies we endorse need to rise to the occasion of reflecting a new global reality, using a newer set of storytelling tools than this reheated excuse for a historical geopolitical thriller.

I can't agree with him more and I fully share his disappointment and deep sense of embarrassment over "Argo." U.S. society in general and our movie industry in particular have so much to catch up on with modern day realities and global responsibilities. Let's stop making fools of ourselves.